Envelop-making machine and method



H. Y. ARMSTRONG. ENVELOP MAKING MACHINE AND METHOD.

Patented Feb. 1, 1921.

H. Y. ARMSTRONG. ENVELOP MAKING MACHINE AND METHOD.

APPLICATION FILED FEB-11,1918.

Patented Feb. 1, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY Y. ARMSTRONG, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGITO TO WILLIAM?L. HALL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

R OF ONE-HALF ENVELOP-MAKING MACHINE AND METHOD.

Specification of Letters Iatent.

Patented Feb. 1, 1921.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HARRY Y. ARMSTRONG, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of Springfield, in thecounty of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Envelop-Making Machines and Methods; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanylng drawings,and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part ofthis specification.-

This invention relates to improvements in the art of making envelops andrefers to a method of producing envelops and a machine for making them.The invention is herein shown as designed to produce the type of envelopillustrated in my pending application for United States Letters PatentSerial Number 163,871, filed April 23, 1917, wherein the envelop is madefrom a single piece of paper embracing equal dimension front and rearsections folding one upon the othenand pasted at their end margins andopen at one side, one of the sections being provided with a terminalclosing flap to be folded flat on the other section and pasted thereto.The invention is adaptable to envelops of other design.

In producing an envelop in accordance with my invention, a sheet or webof paper is unrolled from a roll of paper, supported on a reel, and thepaper, as it leaves the roll, tends to assume a permanent set, due tothe spiral formation of the web on the roll.

Said web is thereafter so manipulated in folding it' to produce theenvelop, that advantage is taken of this set in the paper web when thelayers are brought together to ultimately constitute the walls of theenvelop, as to cause the spring imparted to the paper web to tend toforce the walls away from each other at their central portions orbetween their pasted margins.

In practising my invention, the web of paper is so drawn from the rolland is so manipulated thereafter in folding it and directing it to thefolding means that the outer face of the web, as it leaves the roll,becomes the outer faces of the walls of the envelop tube and of thewalls of the complete envelops; and the set of the paper is such as tocause said walls to spring away The invention consists in thecombination and arrangement of the parts shown in the drawings anddescribed in the specification, and 1s pomted out in the appendedclaims.

I have shown in the drawings the elements of the machine for makingenvelope in accordance with the present invention, sald elements beingdiagrammatically shown but sufficiently to illustrate the principle ofthe invention.

As shown by said drawings F1g ure 1 is a perspective, diagrammatic viewillustratlng the manner oftaking the web from the supporting roll, andfor guid- 1ng it to the folding mechanism, showing themechamsm forfolding the web, for applying paste patches thereto, and for severmg thefolded web or tube to produce the complete envelops.

Fig. 2 is .a' section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, illustrating thefolding horn bv whlch the Web is longitudinally folded to produce theenvelop tube.

Fig. 3 1s a plan view illustrating the fold ed web and the position ofthe folding horn relatively thereto.

Fig. 1 is an enlarged view of the flat web showing the spacing of thepaste patches applied thereon.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the parts shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a perspective sectional view of the envelop tube.'

Fig. 7 illustrates a complete envelop.

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section of the envelop.

As shown in the drawings, and referring more particularly to Fig. 1, 1Odesignates a reel on which a roll of the paper web is supported. 11, 12,designate lower and upper scoring rolls, respectively, located inadvance of said reel 10 and between which the web, after it leaves :thereel-is trained. The lower roll is provided with circumferentiallycontinuous, spaced scoring knives 14 and the upper roll is providedopposite to the scoring knives with circular grooves 15 to cooperatewith said knives. 16 designates a paste aplplying roll which is providedwith opposite y disposed paste applying members 17 of suitable length toapply paste patches to the sheet or web. These paste applying membersreceive paste from a transfer roll 18 that rotates partially submergedin a body of paste in a paste pot 19. Said rolls 11, 12, 16, and 18will, in practice, be geared to operate in proper sequence to apply thepaste patches P to the web at suitable spaced intervals corresponding tothe width of the envelops.

Located above said scoring rolls is a guide roll 20 which isobliquelydisposed at an angle of about 45 degrees to the planes of theaxes of the roll shafts.

22, 23 designate upper and lower drawing rolls, respectively, which arearranged in advance of the oblique guide roll 20, 24, 25 designatedprinting rolls, if it be desired to print a return address or likesubject matter on the envelops. 26, 27 designate upper and lower cuttingor severing rolls by which the envelop tube is transversely severed toproduce envelops.

Located between said drawing rolls and the oblique guide roll 20 is ahorizontal V shape folding horn 30, and a symmetrically disposed V shapefolding form 31 is dis posed parallel to the folding horn as shown inFig. 2. Said folding horn lies within the form and the tapered edgethereof is directed toward and is located closely adjacent to the innerangle of said form.

The web W from which the envelops are made is somewhat more than twicethe width of the completed envelop E shown in Figs. 6 and 7, and isfolded upon itself along the score line 6 to produce the front and backwall sections E, E of the envelop, the dimensions of which are equal toeach other. The sections of which the front walls constitute a part arecontinued beyond the side edges of said sections to form closing flaps Ehe drawing rolls 22, 23 serve, in addition to drawing the paper from themachine, as means for effecting the first or initial squeezing of thepaste patches P between the layers of the envelop tube, said patchesbeing applied to the sheet by the paste applylng members 17. For thispurpose the upper drawing roll is provided with diametrically opposedlimited squeezing areas 32 which act against the face of the lower roll,and said squeezing areas are flanked by parallel relief grooves 33, thepurpose of which is to limit the squeezing action of the rolls on thepaste patches.

The upper severing or cutting roll 26 is provided with diametricallyopposed knives 34:, disposed lengthwise of the roll, and fixed inlongitudinal grooves in the roll, with their edges extending slightlybeyond the periphery thereof, and said knives are adapted to enterlongitudinal grooves 35 in the lower roll 27 in cutting relation to thewalls of said grooves. Said knives cut the individual envelops from theenvelop tube. Clamping bars 36 are set in grooves in said upper rollwhich grooves are disposed in planes obliquely to the knife grooves, andbacked by springs 37, which serve to clamp or hold the envelop tubebetween the same and the lower roll 27 during the cutting operation.Said bars also serve to clean the knives of paste which tend to adherethereto, the knives severing the envelop tube through the paste patches.The severed envelops are carried away from the machine between theadjacent laps of take ofi' belts 38.

The operation of the machine is as follows:

The paper web W is drawn from the upper side of the roll onthe reel 10and as it passes between the rolls 11 and 12 said web is scored toproduce score line e e on the former of which the web is folded toroduce the front and rear walls E E of the envelop and on the latter ofwhich the marginal portion or flap E is folded. As the web passes thepaste applying roll 16 the paste applying members 17 contact with thatsurface of the web which, as the web leaves the roll, is the innersurface; said paste patches being applied at distances apart equal tothe width of the complete envelops. The web is directed by the obliqueroll 12 to the folding horn 30 and form 31, which latter serve toproduce the envelop tube E shown in Fig. 3; the paste patches appearingbetween the layers of said tube. The drawing and squeezing rolls 22, 23are so timed that the squeezing areas 32 are always presented to thepaste patches to press the layers of the envelop tube thereon. Thefolded web is advanced by said rolls 22, 23 and, if the printing rolls24, 25 be presented, the tube is printed as it passes therebetween. Thecutting or severmg rolls 26, 27 are so timed as to bring the cuttingknives always in position to sever the tube at the paste patches, thepaste patches being of such width that when severed paste areas ofsufiicient width will be left between the end margins of the envelopwalls.

From a consideration of Fig. 1 it will be noted that the outer face ofthe web as it leaves the roll becomes the outer faces of the Walls ofthe tubes when folded over the horn 30, and, therefore, the outer faces'of the walls of the envelops when cut from the tube. The set of thepaper produced by the spiral winding thereof around the roll, as

before stated, has the effect to cause the walls to tend to separate andproduce the bulging effect shown in Fig. 8.

I claim as my invention,'

1. The method of making envelops which comprises the steps of drawmg aweb from a spirally wound roll, and thereafter longitudinally foldingthe uncut web on itself to produce a continuous envelop tube andtransversely cutting said tube all in such manner that the outer face ofthe web, as it leaves the roll, becomes the outer faces of the completeenvelop walls.

2. The method of making envelops, which comprises the ste s of drawing aweb from a spirally woun roll, longitudinally folding the uncut web toproduce a continuous envelop tube with the outer face of the web, as itleaves the roll, constituting the outer faces of the walls of the tubeand transversely severing the tube to produce com-,

' plete envelops.

3. The method of making envelops, which comprises the steps of drawing aweb from a spirally-wound roll, longitudinally folding the uncut web toproduce a continuous envelo tube with the outer face of the web, as itleaves the roll, constituting the outer faces of the walls of the tube,transversel pasting said tube walls together at longitudinally spacedintervals and transversely severing the tube at the pasted areas.

4. In an envelop making machine, a reel to support a roll of paper web,with means to longitudinally score the, web means for applyingtransversely patches of paste thereto at intervals and other means tothereafter fold the continuous web along the score line, means totransversely paste the folded web, and means for so directing the web tothe folding means that the exterior face of the web as it leaves thereel becomes the outer faces of the envelop structure when it is folded.

5. In an envelop making machine, a reel to support a roll of pa er web,drawing and forming means to ro uce a continuous unbroken envelop tu e,means to transversely paste the tube walls at longitudinally spacedintervals, severin means to sever envelops therefrom, meanslietween thereel and drawing and forming means to a ply transverse aste patches tothe web, an a guide roller etween the reel and drawing and forming meansarranged to direct the outer face of the web as it leaves the roll tosaid drawing and forming means so that said outer face of the webbecomes, in the envelop tube, the outer faces of the members of thetube.

In testimony whereof I claim the foregoing as my invention, I hereuntoappend my signature at Springfield, Massachusetts, this 6th day of Februar 1918.

,HARRY ARMSTRONG.

